


Coffee

by HorseCrazyWriter76



Series: NaNoWriMo November 2019 [21]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Coffee Shop, Dubious free will, Gen, not beta read or edited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21594733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorseCrazyWriter76/pseuds/HorseCrazyWriter76
Summary: Thomas smiled and took his order to a seat near the front. If Patton stood in the right place he could just make out the words on the screen. It looked like he was writing down what had happened.A young man, a regular to the cafe, named Logan walks in to the cafe. He was wearing a different colored shirt than usual.The bell jingled as Logan walked in. He had switched out his normal black polo shirt for a navy blue one.Prompt: https://blog.reedsy.com/short-story-ideas/misc/you-re-sitting-in-a-coffee-shop-watching-someone-t/
Series: NaNoWriMo November 2019 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1541089
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Coffee

Patton hummed to himself as he arranged the baked goods in the display case. A young man walked in, a computer bag slung over his shoulder. His purple locks danced in the faint breeze from the air conditioning system. He started to look at the menu above Patton’s head. He made up his mind quickly and approached the counter.

“Good morning, what can I get you?” Patton asked. 

“Mocha and a chocolate chip muffin,” the man replied.

“That will be 7.25. Name?” Patton asked, taking the crumpled 10-dollar bill and handing back two dollars and 3 quarters.

“Thomas.”

“I’ll get that right out to you,” Patton replied, and started making the coffee while Thomas hovered near the counter. He set the muffin and coffee down with a big smile. Thomas smiled back and took his order to a seat near the front. If Patton stood in the right place he could just make out the words on the screen. It looked like he was writing down what had happened. 

_ A young man, a regular to the cafe, named Logan walks in to the cafe. _

The bell jingled as Logan walked in. He had switched out his normal black polo shirt for a navy blue one. 

“Good morning, Logan. Black coffee?”

“Yes, thank you,” he replied, starting to count out the change. Patton started on the coffee and took the money, sliding the coffee over to Logan. Logan took it, dropped a couple coins in the tip jar, and walked out. Patton peered over at Thomas’s computer screen. He usually wasn’t the type to snoop, but he had to wonder how he knew Logan would come in.

_ A handsome young man walks in. He makes the barista’s heart flutter. _

Patton looked up at the sound of the bell. A tall man with sun-kissed skin walked in. Patton felt a hint of a blush forming on his cheeks.

“Good morning, what can I get you?” he asked as the man approached the counter.

“A water and two chocolate chip cookies.

“That’ll be 4.15,” Patton told him. The man fumbled with his wallet, which somehow made Patton’s heart beat faster. He slid over a couple bills and coins. Patton counted out the bills and slid back the change, pulling a bottle of water and the cookies from their spots. He swore his heart would leap out of his chest when their hands touched.

“Have a nice day!” Patton smiled.

“May your day be wonderful, as well,” the man replied. He turned around and left. Patton forced himself to put the man and Thomas out of his mind for the remainder of his shift, although he couldn’t keep from glancing over at Thomas from time to time. While it wasn’t necessarily odd for people to stay for a couple hours at a time to eat breakfast and take advantage of the free wi-fi, people usually didn’t stay for an entire 8-hour shift typing away at a computer near the front of the shop.

Patton and Thomas left the shop at the same time.

*****

Patton walked in the door for his shift to see Thomas already seated at the same table as before. He picked up his work and risked a glance Thomas’s computer.

_ It starts raining outside. _

A drizzle started to mist over the area beyond the large windows at the front of the shop, which quickly began to pick up intensity until it became dark beyond the cafe except for the occasional burst of lightning showing the stark outlines of the other shops and cars. Patton hoped it would let up quickly so that he could get to his house without getting too wet. The forecast hadn’t predicted any rain, so he had biked to work. If it was too rainy he could always just sit and wait for the showers to let up. He glanced at the clock. The rain probably wouldn’t last all 7 and a half hours remaining of his shift. He looked up as the bell chimed its faint greeting over the sound of the rain.

“Good morning!” he greeted the handsome man from yesterday. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his shirt was soaked through by the rain, clinging to his body enough to hint at muscles beneath. Patton yanked his eyes back up to the man’s face.

“Good morning, can I have a hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin?”

“Yup! That’ll be 4.95.”

The man dug through his wallet and pulled out crumpled bills. Patton sorted out the change, smiling his thanks at the dollars stuffed in to the tip jar.

“Thank you! And can I have a name for the cup?”

“Roman.”

Even his name was handsome. Patton hurried to make his drink. He handed over the cup of hot chocolate and muffin. 

“Thank you, have a marvelous day.”

“You too!” Patton chimed. He watched as Roman took a seat near the window, then turned back to his work. He risked another glance at Thomas’s computer screen, but it only had comments on things that had already happened. Patton turned and took a new tray of brownies from Valerie. 

He stood at the counter for a moment, taking another glance at Thomas’s computer.

_ The power went out. _

There was a loud clap of thunder, then the lights flickered once, twice, and the cafe was bathed in darkness except for the bright rectangles of light from computer, tablet, and phone screens. Patton dug his own phone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight, sweeping it across the area. He told himself the power would restart soon and focused on finishing the task of putting the brownies into the display case.

The power came back on 10 minutes later. He turned off the flashlight and put his phone away, watching Thomas’s computer, although he didn’t seem to plan anything more than the slow tapering off of the storm. Patton pulled himself away to help another customer.

The sun greeted Patton and Thomas at the end of Patton’s shift.

*****

“Good morning!” Patton chirped as Thomas walked into the cafe, “What can I get you?”

“Just a chocolate chip muffin.”

“That’ll be 3.50.”

Patton took the money and handed over the muffin, watching as Thomas took his seat near the front of the shop. Patton busied himself with small tasks, looking up as Roman walked into the store. He glanced at Thomas’s computer.

_ Patton felt a burst of courage. He would give his number to Roman today. _

“Good morning, what can I get you?” Patton asked, the gears in his mind clinking together. What if he  _ didn’t  _ give Roman his number? He  _ wanted  _ to, but could he choose not to?

“A hot chocolate and a vanilla cake pop,” Roman replied. 

“That’ll be 4.65.”

Roman handed over the money, and Patton made his drink. His hand twitched to write his number on the cup, but he clicked the cap onto the marker decisively. His hand made the movement to write his number, but only the cap of the marker touched the white cardboard.

Patton handed the cup and the cake pop over, “Have a nice day!”

“Have a brilliant day,” Roman replied. Patton’s hands shook. He found himself wanting to write his number on everything. Every cup of coffee or tea that was ordered begged to have the numbers etched beneath the loopy letters of Logan or Talyn or Brianna. The empty space below the name and price of the baked goods on display screamed to have it fill that space. The numbers stood out in his mind, whining to be written in pretty white frosting on top of a cookie shaped like a pumpkin or a flower or a cat.

Patton handed the orders of Logan and Talyn and Brianna over to their respective owners with only their names written on it. He ignored the empty space on the little cards for the baked goods. He never went to the kitchen to ask for a piping bag of white frosting.

He saw Thomas become agitated. Patton realized it was the first real emotion he had seen from Thomas. He had always seemed kind of happy. Now he was frowning and glancing towards Patton. Patton ignored him. He kept the baked goods stocked and made drinks. He took a walk during his lunch break, chewing on a sandwich he had brought from home. He came back 5 minutes before his break ended. Thomas was still at his computer. 

Patton went back to work, helping the lazy trickle of costumers. The afternoon was uneventful, although Patton’s hands still itched to write out his number. He watched as Thomas walked to the bathroom. He glanced around, then walked to the computer. It didn’t take him long to find the line describing him giving his number to Roman.

He deleted it.

He returned to the counter. The cups no longer begged for the digits to be printed beneath the names of every customer that came in. The empty space below the name and price of the baked goods on sale fell silent. No white frosting filled his mind.

Thomas and Patton walked out together. They shared half a second of eye contact that felt like forever.

*****

Patton locked his bike onto the bar and pushed open the door to the cafe. Thomas was ordering a drink from Valerie, who smiled at his entrance. He took over Valerie’s post, as Thomas set up his computer in the same spot as before. A heavy rain started abruptly. Roman came in, soaked through again. He wore a shirt that was probably white or light grey and had been rendered translucent by the rain. Patton forced himself to ignore that fact.

“Good morning, what can I get you?”

“A hot chocolate and a slice of lemon cake.” 

“That will be 7.15.”

Patton took the money and started putting it in the register when a small paper slipped out. He picked it up to see a phone number printed on it. He looked up at Roman, who blushed. Patton carefully tucked the paper into his pocket and got Roman his drink and cake.

Roman stayed in the cafe, pulling out his phone and busying himself on it. Patton kept working. Thomas didn’t seem to be doing anything big today, other than the rainstorm. He half wondered if Thomas only decided to write that it was raining when Patton decided to bike to work. Patton pushed the thought out of his head to get a coffee for a girl on the other side of the counter.

The day was slow business wise, although given that it was pouring rain and a weekday, Patton wasn’t surprised. He leaned against the counter and glanced at Thomas’s computer. He seemed to be writing a lot about a gay couple on the other side of the cafe. Patton couldn’t hear their conversation, but he guessed that Thomas’s writings on their discussion of a new video game were accurate. The shorter guy leaned forward to kiss the taller guy. They both smiled and looked into their eyes for a moment before resuming their conversation. 

The bell chirped out the arrival of a new person, and Patton tore his eyes away from Thomas and the couple. A short man who was practically consumed by his hoodie ordered a black coffee under the name of V. He handed over the coffee, and V gave him the money. V’s gaze seemed to linger on Thomas for a moment after he took the cup, then he took a sip and walked out without a word or taking the change. Patton shrugged and put the extra into the tip jar. He busied himself with his work, deciding not to think about Thomas or Roman, just his work. 

Patton’s brain apparently decided to organize a little coup. His thoughts kept coming around to Thomas. What was he doing here, playing matchmaker between him and Roman? Why would they catch his eyes in particular? Patton was nothing special. He was taking a gap year and planned to just go to community college and hopefully find work related in animals. It wasn’t a very firm plan, but he had time to make up his mind seeing as the fall semester had barely begun. Still, there had to be something, right? Maybe he knew Roman and thought they would be a good fit? But Roman hadn’t talked to Thomas. All Patton really knew was that he thought something wasn’t right about it all. 

Patton made a tea for someone, then checked to make sure all the baked goods were well stocked. He stole a glance at Thomas, who was still busily typing away. Patton wiped down the counters just to have something to do. He pretended not to notice as Thomas got up to go to the restroom.

Patton went around to the front of the counter. He paused with his fingers above the keys, then started a new line.

_ The rain stopped as suddenly as it started. Thomas collected his computer and left, never to return. _


End file.
